All the news from the world of battery materials. In one place. Monthly.
Episodes
Monday Sep 16, 2019
Monday Sep 16, 2019
For September’s edition of Recharge by Battery Materials Review we’ve got two great interviews, as well as a recap of all the key news both upstream and downstream in the sector for the month and a discussion of this month’s BMR focus piece which was on the 811 battery chemistry.
We asked whether, given that nickel prices could increase substantially from here, 811 should really be the target battery chemistry or if other battery chemistries might be preferable? We also discuss the demise of Alita Resources, the first major loss of the lithium downturn. Will it be the last and what lessons can management teams and investors learn from it?
This month’s interviews are:
Rho Motion [8:17]: Adam Panayi is a consultant covering the automotive supply chain who does a lot of work on the impact of battery chemistries on raw materials. Our far-reaching interview covers the growth and outlook for the 811 battery chemistry, the impact of mass-market manufacturing on EVs and some thoughts about battery costs. You can find Adam’s website at https://rhomotion.com
Piedmont Lithium (ASX:PLL) [30:16]: CEO Keith Phillips discusses his project’s strategic location in the industrial heartland of the US as well as its exceptional resource quality and potential to become a lowest quartile integrated lithium hydroxide project.
www.batterymaterialsreview.com
Friday Aug 09, 2019
Friday Aug 09, 2019
Welcome to August’s edition of Recharge by Battery Materials Review. Really excited about this month’s interviews. Both companies are in commodities that are not well-known in the battery material space, or even in the mining space as a whole. Both commodities, in fact, are more widely-known as constituents of steel production than in the battery space thus far.
In addition to the interviews we’ve also got a round-up of all the month’s news in both upstream and downstream and briefly discuss this month’s focus article. August’s focus piece discusses our view that EVs are currently at an inflection point as governments transition from the carrot to the stick approach to subsidies.
We also round up the month’s trade data, recap key commodity price developments and summarise our equities performance review.
This month’s interviews are:
Euro Manganese (TSXV:EMN) [8:49]: CEO Marco Romero talks about how the high purity manganese market is differentiated from the manganese for steel market, shares some views on market growth and developments and discusses his company’s Chvaletice project in the Czech Republic.
Bushveld Minerals (AIM:BMN) [25:55]: Group CEO Fortune Mojapelo and Bushveld Energy CEO Mikhail Nikomarov discuss their company’s strong structural position in the vanadium market, growth potential and it’s plans in vanadium batteries. They give a fascinating introduction to vanadium batteries, their main markets and their significant growth potential.
Wednesday Jul 10, 2019
Wednesday Jul 10, 2019
Welcome to July's edition of Recharge by Battery Materials Review. In this edition we discuss all the key news and developments in July in the Batteries and Raw Materials segments. Our Focus topics for this month are: the risk of more Chinese strategic stakeholders selling down and which companies are most at risk. We also ask, given recent announcements of curtailed spodumene concentrate sales, if the situation in lithium is worse than we thought? Our final Focus recounts the keynote address by Vivas Kumar at the Benchmark Minerals World Tour event on qualification, and we highlight why this is such a vital topic for the raw materials industry and for investor understanding of the space.
There's some interesting news on financings and particularly in the REEs and graphite segments, and some key newsflow in downstream. Our monthly EV analysis is not so positive however and we discuss the implications of that.
We add two new equity baskets this month, a Manganese one and a Downstream one and note that they have very contrasting performance with most of the rest of our Raw Material baskets.
Unfortunately there are no interviews this month because of travel commitments, but we'll have two great company interviews next month.
Wednesday Jun 12, 2019
Wednesday Jun 12, 2019
Welcome to June's edition of Recharge by Battery Materials Review. We've got a great line up this month again. We've relaunched the magazine in June to focus a little more on analysis than newsflow and we've got three great features on: The Skills Shortage in Battery Materials, The Outlook for Lithium Clay projects and Why you should take the fall in LME nickel inventories with a pinch of salt. We also include a recap of all the key sector and company newsflow and analysis on how the exploration and development reports compare with the peer group. Then we're into our EV sales recap, analysis of key trade and demand data and our equities round-up.
This month's interviews are:
Birimian/Mali Lithium (ASX:BGS) [9:03]: MD Chris Evans gives us an update on the Goulamina project in Mali, shares his views on why Hard Rock developers are struggling to hit recovery targets and highlights some of the forthcoming catalysts for his company.
Magnis Energy Technologies (ASX:MNS) [21:09]: MD Marc Vogts discusses his company's evolution from a graphite project developer into a battery developer and on into a battery manufacturer with its own Gigafactories now on the drawing board.
www.batterymaterialsreview.com
Friday May 10, 2019
Friday May 10, 2019
For May 2019, Recharge by Battery Materials Review has a great line up. As well as recapping all the key news for April in the world of batteries, raw materials, EVs and storage, we discuss our four feature articles for the month, on the Wesfarmers/Kidman bid, the structure of offtake agreements, Umicore's cathode materials profit warning and whether battery explosions threaten lithium-ion battery adoption.
We also have interviews with:
Roskill - Graphite (11:39): Suzanne Shaw, who has been a graphite analyst for over 10 years, discusses her outlook for the graphite industry in both the near and longer term, with some key insights into China; and
Terrafame (30:43): CEO Joni Lukkaroinen discusses his company's successful turnaround of Europe's largest nickel producer, Terrafame's plans for the future and some thoughts about nickel and its intermediates.
Friday Apr 12, 2019
Friday Apr 12, 2019
In April 2019's edition of Recharge, the podcast of Battery Materials Review, we recap all the key news in the Battery Materials industry in March, as well as focusing on funding and why, even though it's a tough environment, it's available for the right project, and we also discuss why self-sufficiency in battery materials may be a pipe dream for the US and Europe.
We also have interviews with:
Kibaran Resources (ASX:KNL): MD Andrew Spinks and Director Christoph Frey discuss the exciting potential of both Kibaran's up- and downstream projects and how being integrated into high purity graphite gives an edge.
AVZ Minerals (ASX:AVZ): MD Nigel Ferguson discusses the geological potential of the Manono project and goes on to explain how the project can be successfully developed.
www.batterymaterialsreview.com
Friday Mar 08, 2019
Friday Mar 08, 2019
In March 2019's edition of Recharge, the podcast of Battery Materials Review, we recap all the key news in the Battery Materials industry in February, as well as focusing on why we believe that graphite might just be the most exciting battery material.
We also have interviews with the following:
Savannah Resources (AIM:SAV): CEO David Archer talks to us about his company's exciting hard rock lithium project in Portugal and the outlook for the European batteries industry.
Eagle Graphite (TSXV:EGA): President James Deith talks about their Black Crystal project and about why the graphite sector is so misunderstood by investors.
www.batterymaterialsreview.com
Wednesday Feb 20, 2019
Wednesday Feb 20, 2019
In the February 2019 Recharge, the podcast of Battery Materials Review, we recap all the key news in the Battery Materials industry in January, as well as focusing on how lithium producers may be shooting themselves in the foot by under-reporting operating costs in their feasibility studies.